


Whumptober 2020 07 "I've Got You"

by frankie_mcstein



Series: Whumptober 2020 [7]
Category: Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)
Genre: Bad guys, Fluffy Ending, Gen, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Whumptober 2020, it's a thing, mild whump, ohana in a hospital room
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26875621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frankie_mcstein/pseuds/frankie_mcstein
Summary: Whumptober 2020 prompt 07- "I've Got You"They were just meant to find where the men were hiding. The men weren't meant to find Higgins first.
Series: Whumptober 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947172
Comments: 21
Kudos: 47





	Whumptober 2020 07 "I've Got You"

**Author's Note:**

> Back to mild whump, sorry. There's some heavier stuff coming up. I think. Maybe.

They'd split up to search the old property, Higgins taking the grounds and Magnum taking the house. She'd argued that she was lighter, less likely to cause the ruined old building to collapse in on itself. He'd argued the men their client's wife was running from, if any of them were at the old place, were more likely to be inside than out. She'd told him that just meant they shouldn't split up, but he'd overruled her, saying he was more likely to be able to stall an attack and give her time to run to his rescue, that she would be his secret weapon. She'd rolled her eyes and shook her head, but hadn't tried to follow him in through the warped front door.

He peeked out of the window in what must, at one point, have been a luxurious library, and caught sight of her making her way through the overgrown kitchen garden. He watched for a few seconds as she carefully lifted her feet, seemingly trying to avoid stepping on a certain purple plant. He finished checking the old shelves and walked into the small empty room that led off the library. He couldn't resist glancing out of the window again, and saw she had gotten caught up in the vines of some plant or other. She didn't even try to carefully untangle herself, opting instead to twist the vines that were tugging at her clothes until they snapped. He smirked at the contradiction and huffed a laugh, breathing out heavily through his nose and shaking his head. 

He lost sight of her as he made his way up the stairs, stepping gingerly and admitting, in the privacy of his own mind, that she might have had a point about the building collapsing. But nothing was actually falling down around his ears, and he really didn't want to see the look on her face if he went and found her and asked to trade places. And, as much as he didn't think they were going to find anyone, he really did expect them to be in the house rather than camping in the grounds.

'Even though the house is so obviously not safe?' Magnum rolled his eyes a little at his own mind and worked through his logic. If they were anywhere, it would be in the house with its walls and roof. If the house was empty then great, they'd move on to the old mill. 

So he kept going, poking through the three musty bedrooms, the dressing room, the study… and not finding anything of any interest. A few old bits of furniture that had been left behind by the heirs of the last inhabitant, some heavy curtains that threatened to fall to dust if he breathed too heavily near them, and a small colony of moths that didn't seem to care for his presence.

It didn't take long for him to decide to head back down the stairs, the empty rooms making his job a lot easier. He wondered if Higgins would have had better luck in the green house with its shattered panes, or one of the two old sheds he'd caught sight of from a second floor window, but he doubted it. 

So when he heard glass smashing, and a man's voice echoing over the overgrown grounds, he didn't instantly break into a run. There could be a homeless man hiding out, or it could be a security guard hired by the absent owner, it could be… A yell of pain, high pitched and sounding awfully like his name, had his feet moving before the sound had died away.

'It could be the guys you were hoping she wouldn't find!' he snapped at himself, instantly feeling guilty for her being in trouble. Another cry, this one sounding scared, had him seeing red, anger smothering the guilt. The noise was coming from behind the second shed, the one furthest from the house, and he stretched his legs into a full on sprint. These guys, if they were their guys, had a reputation for their methods of dealing with women.

His feet got caught up in something, the roots of a vine, and he hit the ground hard. He didn't waste time cursing, even in his own head, just rolled and got his feet back under him. He dove towards the greenhouse, trusting the thick, jungle-like plants still growing around the frame would hide him from sight. 

Sure enough, as he peered around the corner, two figures walked out from behind the shed. Even without seeing the sunlight glinting off the metal, he'd have known from their stances they were holding guns, and now he did curse to himself. He had his gun, sure, but he couldn't shoot these two without knowing if whoever was with Higgins was armed or not. Gunshots could make an itchy trigger finger twitch, and he wasn't ready to lose Higgins.

So he crept around the long side of the old greenhouse, keeping one eye on the ground and the other on the two men who were looking for him. Ideally he would reach the back of the shed, take out whoever was by Higgins, and she would help him take out the two who were getting closer and closer to the greenhouse.

"Stop!" 

It was almost panicked, the smooth English accent nearly lost in the thick fear, and Magnum felt a surge of adrenaline that told him he might be running out of time. The two men he’d been watching had reached the end of the greenhouse and Magnum worried they would split up, walk around each side. He took a second to breathe a sigh of relief as they both headed towards the house along the front of the greenhouse. Magnum took the chance to run to the first shed, diving behind it and listening intently for any slight sound that might mean he had been spotted.

It seemed to take forever to reach the second shed; Higgins hadn’t made a sound since that terrified yell and Magnum was getting all sorts of bad feelings. He edged his head around the side, saw Higgins face down on the ground, ankles tied, her hands being pressed into the small of her back by the man sitting on her legs. Magnum ran the four steps it took to reach the pair, tackling the man with a grunt of exertion, and rolling to his feet before the other man had a chance to realise what had happened. A solid kick to the side of his head sent the man slumping down, eyes closed. Magnum didn’t bother to check if the guy was still breathing; he was reasonably sure the kick hadn’t been hard enough to do more than knock the guy out, and he was far more worried about how still and quiet Higgins was.

“Juliet?” he called as he carefully rolled her to her back, trying to check her over for injuries. Her shirt was torn and a nasty looking lump was coming up over her eyebrow, but, as he called her name again, she shifted and her eyes opened a little.

“It’s okay, you’re all right.” Magnum pulled his pocket knife and quickly cut the rope pinning Higgins’ feet together, relieved when her legs shifted almost immediately.

“Magnum?”

“I took out one,” he told her quietly, hands still searching for more injuries, worried she might not be able to get herself back to the car. “The other two are looking for me near the house.” At least, he hoped they were still wandering aimlessly about and not on their way back.

A small groan of pain as he pressed down on her stomach had Magnum putting the missing men to the back of his mind and focusing worriedly on Higgins.

“I think there’s a bruise there,” she whispered. “One of them kicked me while I was pinned down.”

The state of her top and the paleness of her face told Magnum she knew perfectly well that they had been planning to do much worse than just kick her while she was down. He grabbed his cell and dialled Katsumoto’s number, deciding that Higgins had been through more than enough without getting pulled into a potential shoot out. After he had been assured that help was on the way, he helped Higgins to her feet.

They took off towards the edge of the property, Higgins leaning heavily on Magnum, limping badly. He wasn’t sure if he really did hear sirens or if it was wishful thinking; he really didn’t want to be hiding out in the forest when every instinct he had was telling him to get Higgins to a doctor but he didn’t dare try to sneak past the two men who were still out there.

“It’ll be okay,” he muttered, trying to help her over the fence and ignore the small gasp that told him he might well have missed a broken rib. “I’m right here, girl. They’re not gonna get their hands on you again.”

It felt strange, assuring someone as strong and capable as Higgins that he was there to look after her. He half expected her to roll her eyes and scoff. But she seemed grateful for the protective note in his voice, let him lead her over to a clump of thick, high bushes, meekly let him help her sit behind them. Even after they were both settled behind the dubious protection of the plants, she didn’t seem at all inclined to move away from the arm he wrapped around her shoulders. It was more worrying than the blood he now noticed was trickling slowly from her nose and even the slightly dazed look in her eyes.

“Hey,” he whispered, putting his free hand on her cheek and tilting her head back. “They did a lot more than just land a single kick, huh?” He tried to keep his voice light, to hide the concern that was building, but she just blinked slowly at him instead of actually answering. 

Then she lifted her left arm, dropping her eyes down to look at the skin. He followed her gaze and swore viciously in the privacy of his own mind at the sight of a tiny puncture just below the crook of her elbow.

“Higgy?” A hint of panic in his voice that he couldn’t squash down, but she didn’t react.

“I hardly felt it,” she marvelled, sounding amazed.

“Juliet,” and his voice was hard now, demanding her attention. He waited until she had met his eyes before asking, “do you know what they gave you?” He could feel his heart picking up speed as she furrowed her brow a little, clearly trying to clear her mind.

“It um… keep me quiet,” she murmured, eyes drifting off the side, unfocused and moving slowly.

Sirens suddenly came blaring out of the still air, sending a wave a relief rushing over Magnum. He pulled his cell back out and called Katsumoto again, quickly telling him Higgins desperately needed an ambulance before the Detective could even say a word.

“It’s less than a minute out,” came the welcome response, “they’re just waiting for us to call the all clear.”

It didn’t take long, HPD being well trained and eager to take down the men who had been blackmailing people all across the island. Less than five minutes after he hung up, Magnum was helping Higgins back over the fence, Katsumoto catching her as she stumbled. The EMTs were right behind him and quickly lowered her to the ground.

“Thomas?” Even with how quiet her voice was she sounded panicked, her hands reaching blindly for him, and he jumped the fence to get to her side.

“It’s all right,” he soothed, grabbing her hands. “I’m here. I’ve got you.” He squeezed gently, unsure if she was able to actually understand what she was hearing given the way she seemed to be ignoring the questions the EMTs were trying to ask her. “They injected her with something,” he said quickly, hoping they would stop poking and prodding her stomach and chest.

Sure enough, once they knew they were dealing with an unknown drug, they had her loaded up in less than a minute. Magnum stayed where he was, knowing from experience that, if the crew didn’t ask him to ride along, it meant they needed to work on their patient and there wouldn’t be enough room for another person. He felt a little lost as he watched the ambulance drive away, but shook off the feeling. He needed to give Katsumoto an explanation, tell him exactly how they had come to be caught up in a case they had been explicitly told not to interfere with.

…

“It was just a mild sedative,” Higgins was saying as Magnum finally walked into her hospital room. She still sounded a little too quiet, but her face had lost the paleness that had been so concerning. “They didn’t even hit the vein so it didn’t last long.” She winced a little and gave a quiet hum. “I have a terrible headache though.”

Magnum crept to the side of the bed, nodding at Rick and T.C. as they both flashed a thumbs up at him, letting him know she was okay. He grinned as he saw her eyes opening again, and she blinked, then smiled back at him.

“Hi.”

“Hey.” It wasn’t exactly stimulating conversation, but it was enough for him. The last bit of the tension he’d been holding onto drifted away from him and he let himself relax properly for the first time since he’d heard her scream. “Has anyone said anything about side effects?” What he really wanted to ask was how her top had ended up torn, what the men had said while they had been holding her, whether they needed to call Ice Pick to ask him to arrange an ‘accident’. But he didn’t want to upset her, the fear of losing still making his nerves feel raw.

“Pretty much just the headache,” T.C. answered, seeing Higgins’ eyes had closed again. “She’s gonna be just fine.”

“I want my dogs,” came from the bed, causing all three men to freeze as they tried to figure out what to say.

“Uh… I don’t think the staff would appreciate getting growled at when they come to check on you, Higgy.” Magnum tried very hard to keep the laughter out of his voice. Going by the frow that wrinkled her face, he had to assume he hadn’t done a very good job.

“They’re puppies.” She sounded like he’d offended her somehow and he was glad she didn't seem to have the energy to open her eyes and glare at him. 

Rick actually had to turn his face away to try to muffle his laughter.

“Tell you what,” Magnum said, taking her hand, “you get some sleep, and I’ll bark at everyone who comes in.”

“Promise?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he told her, shifting a curl from her forehead, “I told you, I’ve got you. I’m a man of my word.”

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea why Magnum thinks saying things "I'll bark at everyone who comes in" won't end badly. At least one video will end up on online.


End file.
